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Beware of Scary Telephone Customer Service - 10/27/26


As we near the Halloween holiday in the United States, it seems appropriate to discuss examples of scary customer service, particularly on the telephone.  Here are a few common issues that frustrate and annoy customers.  These are experiences to avoid delivering, and alternatives to adopt: The customer calls, describes their Read more

The Art of the Successful Script - 10/20/26


You’re the customer.  You go to the store, and they ask if you have a loyalty card.  You call the doctor’s office, and they ask for your birth date.   You walk up to the counter, and they ask if you found everything you were looking for. These are all valid Read more

The Key Building Block for Your Customer Relationship - 10/13/26


An automotive manufacturer gets supplies for their vehicles from all over the world.  They have arrangements, service level agreements, expectations for timing and quality of all the parts.  And when they gather all these supplies, they assemble the cars.  They test the cars.  Then they take pictures of those Read more

Be Flexible to Fill the Gaps - 10/6/26


The non-profit has the expected challenges.  There are only 3 people in the organization, yet, they have the same responsibilities of a larger company.  They have to do finance, sales, marketing; they deliver their services to the community, and they need to keep a pulse on what’s going on Read more

Is This Good Customer Service? - 9/29/26


A friend of mine reached out to me recently as she waited for the electrical technician to show up at her house to do some minor repairs.  She had never worked with this company before, but they sent a text about the tech who was soon to arrive. The message Read more

Ownership when Fixing Others’ Errors - 9/22/26


We were conducting training with a client recently, and one of the participants, Jackie, is in a role in his organization where he goes out to the customer site to investigate issues, address customer complaints, and fix problems.  While he’s at the site, he often gets an earful from Read more

Why “No” is So Important - 9/15/26


The employee told the caller: “I don’t think that is possible.” The customer eventually hung up, and redialed to ask a different employee the same question. The employee responded to the customer: “That’s probably not the best way to do it.”  Then, the customer kept asking question after question, arguing Read more

It’s Not “You,” It’s “I” - 9/8/26


During a business writing course that I took years ago, the instructor had us write an e-mail.  I can’t recall if it was written to a co-worker or customer, but after writing this e-mail, she had us count every “I” and “You.”  We talked about how we need to Read more

It Shouldn’t Make a Difference, But… - 9/1/26


We have this conversation with lots of our sports clients, but the principles apply across all different industries.  Too many service representatives view a conversation with a customer as a transaction.  Just get him off the phone as quickly as possible.  The customer is Joe Public, not Joseph Pendergrass.  Read more

Use What the Customer Gives You - 8/25/26


Scenario #1: The customer sent an e-mail to the general inbox at the company.  The message noted that the customer needed to get a family member added to their account, but they couldn’t tell from the website how to do so. The next morning an employee opened up the e-mail, Read more

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The Art of the Successful Script – 10/20/26

Posted on October 20, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

You’re the customer.  You go to the store, and they ask if you have a loyalty card.  You call the doctor’s office, and they ask for your birth date.   You walk up to the counter, and they ask if you found everything you were looking for.

These are all valid questions, and they’re all scripted.  And there’s nothing wrong with a scripted question.  It usually has a purpose to help you save a little money by using your loyalty card, help the employee pull up your account by getting your birth date, ensure that you found everything you need.

Scripts are not always a bad thing.  They help to standardize the information shared or the information requested.  But they have to be complemented with phrases that convey appreciation for the customer.  They have to be complemented with words that personalize the encounter.  They have to be complemented with a tone and body language that denote sincerity and an interest in the other person.

Therefore, the success of a script is not just based on the specific words used and making sure that they are structured and consistently applied to achieve your organizational goal.  The success is also achieved by the words that are not part of the script, by the way that that script is delivered.

So, focus on the customer when they first come up to you or call you on the phone.  Initiate the greeting, and be self-aware of your body language and your tone of voice.  Utilize their name, and communicate with them in a simple, clear, and effective manner.  Be positive, personalized, and professional in how you deliver your message.  And sprinkle a “Thank You!” or “I appreciate that…” or “It’s great that you…” throughout the conversation.

Master the art of the successful script by mastering what surrounds those phrases.

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Is This Good Customer Service? – 9/29/26

Posted on September 29, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

A friend of mine reached out to me recently as she waited for the electrical technician to show up at her house to do some minor repairs.  She had never worked with this company before, but they sent a text about the tech who was soon to arrive.

The message said: “You are next!  Your technician, Fred, from Acme Electrical is on their way to your home at [address].”

The text then briefly went on to talk about some personal aspects of Fred, what’s most important to him, something he enjoys doing as a hobby, etc.  It was a short text, it ended by saying that Fred would arrive in about 30 minutes, and it offered a phone number if my friend needed to call the company in the meantime.

The text that my friend forwarded to me was brief considering all the information included.  Along with forwarding the text, she asked me essentially the following question “Is this good customer service?”

I’ll share a few of my thoughts, but click here to e-mail me your thoughts.

In several ways, yes, this is a great example of customer service.  The company was clear on what would happen next.  They set expectations for timing of the visit.  They started the process of personalizing the visit by sharing the name of the tech and offering some information about him.  They kept it informal but professional.

The company set the table for a great experience.  Now, reality has to meet or exceed the expectations the company set.  How will the conversation flow?  What will be the timeliness in the process?  What attitude will be conveyed by the tech?  Will the person be respectful of the customer and her home?

Every time there is a customer touchpoint, there is an opportunity to provide a certain level of customer service.  In this texted touchpoint, the company was very intentional about trying to lay the groundwork for a positive, pleasant, personalized, professional visit.

Consider all your touchpoints, not just those face-to-face moments of truth.  Look for ways to build in the expectations for the quality of customer service that you want to consistently deliver.

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Ownership when Fixing Others’ Errors – 9/22/26

Posted on September 22, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

We were conducting training with a client recently, and one of the participants, Jackie, is in a role in his organization where he goes out to the customer site to investigate issues, address customer complaints, and fix problems.  While he’s at the site, he often gets an earful from the customer, and that earful is sometimes a complaint about a co-worker or his company or something else that occurred before Jackie was ever personally involved in the situation.

After conducting some small group role plays during the training, I asked for volunteers to recognize one of their co-workers who did an especially good job playing the role of the employee dealing with an angry customer.  The person who volunteered to share kudos decided to recognize Jackie.

She said that Jackie was presented with the complaining customer, who was griping about something having nothing to do with Jackie himself, and Jackie’s co-worker complimented him for what he said during the role play:  “Thank you for sharing what happened.  Even though I was not involved with the issue, I am here now, and I will help you find a solution.”

What impressed Jackie’s co-worker during the role play was that he took ownership of the situation.  He noted – but didn’t harp on the fact – that he didn’t cause the problem.  Jackie didn’t get defensive with the customer.  Jackie was not argumentative.

Instead of focusing on the past, Jackie took ownership, took responsibility for moving toward a future resolution.

Sometimes we get fixated on the definition of ownership being taking blame or responsibility for our own mess ups.  But ownership is also incredibly vital in customer service when it involves taking ownership for resolving the errors of others.

Take ownership over resolutions when dealing with others’ errors.

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